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The Canadian Football League and its partners are going all-out to celebrate with a Grey Cup train tour, a series of stamps issued by Canada Post, and a TSN documentary series, Engraved On A Nation, tracing the history the game and its players, among the promotional highlights. The sold-out Grey Cup game will be played Sunday, Nov. 25 at 6 p.m. at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

Does the game, seen as a unifying force between east and west, still resonate with you? Our readers have some highlights.

I took my young teenage son who was just into high school football and nothing ever inspired him more than that game.

Nearing the end, game tied, we couldn’t even take the time to go to the washroom, it was so exciting.

Riders’ winning field goal on the last play of the game blew me away.

A catch by Tony Champion for a Cat TD with 50 seconds to go tied the game. It was a catch in the air flying backwards in the end zone that somehow he caught. There will never be a more sensational catch than that one.

Champion admitted later that he had played the entire game with broken ribs.

I wish they would replay that game more often as it is the premier showcase of the CFL.

It was Saturday, Nov. 22, 1980, the day before the Grey Cup Game in Toronto (Edmonton vs. Hamilton). My girlfriend at the time (now my wife) called me and asked if I wanted to go to the Grey Cup game with her uncle the next day. I jumped at the opportunity.

Her Uncle Bob was in town from B.C. and had two tickets to the game and nobody to go with.

I was 21 at the time; there was no way I was going to the Grey Cup game without my trusty wine skin. We got to the game, seats located in the end zone.

The game quickly got out of hand. Warren Moon and the Eskimos just destroyed the Tiger-Cats 48-10. But we were going to stay right to the end of the game. Late in the fourth quarter, the Eskimos drove down the field and scored another touchdown, right in front of us. As they celebrated, a large number of people went down the stairs and stood around waiting for the convert in case the ball came into the stands. I had enough of my favourite beverage in me that I turned to Uncle Bob and said I am going to go and see if I can get the ball. And down I went.

Dave Cutler kicked the field goal and the ball travelled to where we all were standing. There was a huge commotion to get the ball. I was in the middle for a couple of seconds and then backed away. I took a couple of steps to leave but then turned back, said “the heck with it,” jumped onto someone’s back, stuck my hand into the scrum and pulled out the ball. Nobody knew. I quickly undid my coat, shoved the ball in and ran back to my seat. Uncle Bob looked at me and said, “Well?” I undid my coat just a little bit to show him. He just looked at me. The scrum was still going on, people fighting for a ball that now was 10 rows up.

I was scared out of my mind. I never undid my coat or looked at the ball until we were safely in the locked car and on our way home.

Since that day, the ball has only been thrown two or three times outside — it stays in a display case. Some times out for show, other times put away in storage. I have been to many hockey games, baseball games and have never come close to getting a puck or ball, but my first and only Grey Cup Game, I came home with a game ball.

Jeffrey Gow, Branchton Ont.

THE FOG BOWL, 1962

I was fortunate to get a Grey Cup ticket to the famous 1962 “fog bowl” game between the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Toronto.

I was a young man and a diehard Tiger-Cat fan — I still am.

I remember being seated three quarters of the way up in the stands between some ardent Blue Bomber fans and some Tiger-Cat fans. It was the most exciting game ever until halftime when the fog rolled in. All of us up that high couldn’t see anything. When there was a score, we had to wait to hear from the announcer who scored and then we all went wild. First the Bomber fans, then Cat fans. It was the most fun I have ever had at a football game, even though we didn’t see much. The Winnipeg fans were very friendly with us all and were true blue fans. They invited me back to their hotel for a party after the game, which was appreciated, but I did not go because I was disappointed we didn’t win. I think the officials made a huge mistake not playing another full quarter the following day. Instead, they finished the final five minutes the second day. I was there, too, even though it was ridiculous. Thank you Grey Cup, Canada 1962. I will always remember.

Terry Strongman

Editor’s note: The 1962 Grey Cup game was won 28-27 by Winnipeg. The game was suspended with nine minutes and 29 seconds left in the fourth quarter and completed the next day, Dec. 2, 1962, with no further scoring.

A SIP FROM THE CUP WITH THE 1996 ARGOS

While I was in university in the late ’90s, I worked at the Revolution/Flying Dog as a bouncer. I was called to the front door because there were some gentleman asking for special service (to get ahead of the line and get into the bar right away). My doorman said that they had a fake trophy and they were trying to say it was the Grey Cup. He scoffed and wanted to send them to the back of the line.

When I walked up to the group of guys (all six-foot plus), I took one look at the trophy — all frosted over in the cold — wiped off an area near the top and saw 1920 and the name of the winning team and players. A few minutes later, I was drinking from the Grey Cup with Mike Vanderjagt (the place kicker) and other members of the 1996 Argos!

Lori Reiser, Kitchener

POST-GAME DINNER WAS THE REAL TREAT AT THE 1954 CUP

I remember back 58 years to the 1954 Grey Cup. It was an overcast day, and Varsity Stadium in Toronto was cold with a muddy playing surface. Hap Shantz, our office manger, was treating two of his workers, Jim Grisbrook and I, to the Grey Cup game.

It was the most exciting Grey Cup ever, between the Edmonton Eskimos and the Montreal Alouettes. Sam Etchevery’s Alouettes were favourites by five to one. Montreal was proving those odds correct, until the last three minutes of play. Jackie Parker’s recovery of a Montreal fumble gave him the chance to run 90 yards for a touchdown and steal the win. The final score was Edmonton 26, Montreal 25.

The three of us followed the crowd (all 27,000 fans, or so it seemed) from Varsity Stadium to the Royal York Hotel to celebrate. You can imagine how crowded it was, but that didn’t stop our buddy Jim Grisbrook (a large high school lineman) from elbowing his way to the mayor’s side and talking his way into receiving three civic dinner tickets for that evening. Jim was a likable guy, the type who could sell anything.

Hap, Jim, and I ended up at a head table among 16 members of the Alouettes team. Sam Etchevery was on my right and Red O’Quinn to my left. The food and drinks were delicious (and free), but I needed proof I was there. I wanted autographs. All I could muster was a $2-bill and it was passed around the table. When it got back to me, both sides were filled with 16 famous names. I kept that bill and showed it off on many occasions as this was the first of 11 Grey Cups between the Alouettes and Eskimos. But would you believe that, at some point in the last 58 years, I misplaced that bill? I’m sure I just have it tucked away in a safe place.

Larry Ertel, former Kitchener resident

PUTTING THE GAME IN PERSPECTIVE

In the quest for the Grey Cup, there is I have a lingering if not sombre memory going back to Oct 17, 1970, when Montreal beat out Toronto in the Eastern semifinals. It is as real today as 42 years ago because it was announced on TV during that heated contest that Pierre Laporte, Quebec’s Labour minister who had been earlier kidnapped in the FLQ crisis, was found dead in the trunk of a car. But it was how the announcement was made that had so stunned the crowd to silence and, as we would find later, the entire nation. When the announcer said something like, “This is ‘only a football game,’” he was putting into perspective the events of the day. But what resonated most was What resonated How suddenly such perspectives are sharpened in overshadowing so much else and of what profound impact they can have in underscoring a nation’s concern and well-being. And that is what I remember most when It seemed to matter little who would actually go on to win the game.